According to the award documentation, the claimants asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty, violations of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, suitability, professional negligence, breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, failure to supervise and vicarious liability by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Charles Alan Correal.

The claimants allege that respondents invested their funds in risky and unsuitable energy stocks, including Seadrill, Ltd., Copano Energy LLC, and Interoil.

Rising oil prices apparently are not enough to save the once-promising master limited partnership (“MLP”) Seadrill Limited. Seadrill stock plummeted, going down 54% on April 4, 2017 as the company announced that it will likely file for bankruptcy.

The most ominous news from Seadrill was its warning to investors of its substantial debt load and its expectation that shareholders are “likely to receive minimal recovery for their existing shares.”

Seadrill, as many oil and gas companies, has seen its value drop dramatically over the last three (3) years. But the company was once highly-valued by Wall Street, with a market capitalization of $23.7 billion as recently as 2013. Today, the company has dropped approximately 98% in value and sits at a market capitalization of just under $400 million.

Our attorneys are investigating the suitability of recommendations made by Morgan Stanley (CRD# 149777) and its financial advisors to invest in Seadrill Ltd. and other oil and gas investments and master limited partnerships (“MLPs”).

In April 2016, Peabody Energy Corp. (“Peabody”), a one-time Wall Street darling based in St. Louis, Missouri filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Almost a year to the day, Peabody emerged from bankruptcy on Monday, April 3, 2017. A day later, another one-time Wall Street darling, Seadrill (ticker “SDRL”), a deepwater drilling contractor that provides drilling services to the oil and gas industry, declined 54% following its warning to investors that the Bermuda-based company is likely to seek bankruptcy protection (or the equivalent) in the United States or United Kingdom (company headquarters).

Seadrill is just another corporate casualty among the hundreds of oil, gas, coal and energy companies that filed and sought bankruptcy production since early 2015. The Securities Arbitration and Investment Litigation Lawyers at the Silver Law Group, The Law Office of David Chase, P.A. and Ciklin Lubitz & O’Connell (www.oilgasfinraarbitration.com) are currently investigating cases relating to investments in Peabody and Seadrill, as well as many other similarly-fated oil, gas, coal and energy producing companies, such as Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal and Linn Energy – which have all filed for bankruptcy.

Like many other energy companies, Seadrill is likely to follow a familiar “play book”: seek Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection, negotiate golden parachutes for its executive team, renegotiate debt and credit, emerge from bankruptcy, and leave numerous investors with little or nothing to show for their principal invested.

Silver Law Group, The Law Firm of David R. Chase, P.A., and Ciklin, Lubitz & O’Connell are continuing their investigation in the suitability of recommendations made by numerous financial advisors and brokerage firms to purchase risky oil and gas securities.

The price of oil has historically been volatile, risky, and difficult to predict. In turn, securities reliant on the commodity’s favorable pricing are highly risky and prone to huge swings in value depending on the price of oil. Such risky investments include but are not limited to: